


Homebody

by Boromerely



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Gen, Vague Mentions of Child Abuse, but technically like all deaths are canon?, platonic/family relationships only, sorry some people die, who knows with this game
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-05-17 17:49:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5880070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boromerely/pseuds/Boromerely
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk accepts Toriel's offer to stay in the Ruins. When Toriel goes down to exchange some jokes, Frisk's curiosity gets the better of them, and they go down to meet their mum's friend. Unfortunately, Sans isn't the only one listening in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Frisk

**Homebody  
** (Noun)  
A person who likes to stay at home; especially one perceived as _unadventurous_

 

Prologue: Frisk

They have been here before. The hallway is the same, the atmosphere just as tense, and the shoulders of the only person have ever cared about them before just as stiff. She’s not happy with them, they can tell. She doesn’t want them down here. Frisk knows. They’ve done this before. But there has to be another way.

She speaks of Asgore again. The monster king that was supposed to kill them. They don’t know what he looks like. They never got that far. They don’t know if they want to get that far.

They reach the end of the hall. The door is the same as they remember, only this time, it’s not covered in dust. She tells them to turn back or fight. They don’t want to fight. They know what happens if they fight. Is it really worth it? There is no other way to get by her. She is stubborn. She will not yield to their pleads to just let them go.

They briefly think on telling her what happened last time. They decide that it’s too creepy.

“Fight or run away!” she says, fire both in her hands and in her eyes. She looks angry. Maybe she’s just scared. Frisk doesn’t know.

They clench the stick in their hand. It feels heavier than it did the first time. Maybe because it’s the same stick they used to kill her. Frisk closes their eyes. Maybe dying would help this time. It didn’t the first time, but that might have just been bad luck.

The fire doesn’t hit them. She’s missing on purpose. They can’t die without making seem like they are trying to. Their lip trembles. Frisk wants to cry, and they look up at the monster that had taken them in without a second thought. Tears start to fall.

“I-” they choke on their tears, and fall to their knees. They just want to be loved. At first they thought that if they went missing and came back, they would love them. But they know she loves them. Is it really worth the risk?

Sobs wrack through their body. She stops attacking, her face full of pain. Frisk briefly wonders if they remind her of somebody.

“I’ll stay,” they manage to get it out. They made their decision.

She falls to the ground and hoists them into her lap. Frisk presses his face into her furry neck. She’s so warm. She mutters apologies over and over again. Frisk doesn’t say anything back. They are the one who should be apologizing. They should have never gone down here. Why did they think it was going to be different?

“Hush, my child,” she says, rocking them back and forth. Frisk’s eyes flutter shut, and they relax. She is here, and she won’t leave now. Frisk won’t leave this time. They can be happy here. They smile.

“Are you ready to go home now?” she asks. Frisk nods. They like the way the word sounds when she says it.

She carries them back up the stairs and only lets them go when they drop them onto their bed. She stays with them, brushing their hair lightly. Everything is better now. They’re home.

~~                                                                                     ~

“Mum?” Frisk asks, looking up from their drawing. Toriel stops in her tracks, looking back at the human child when she’s on the edge of the stairs. “Where are you going?”

“Oh... well,” Toriel looks uneasy. It hasn’t been that long since the two of them had their fight Frisk wonders if she’s scared that they’ll think of leaving again. Frisk looks on, eager for an answer. She smiles at the child, and then says, “I have a friend I meet by the door once a week.”

“Can I come?” Frisk says, dropping their crayon and getting to their feet.

Toriel bites her lip, and looks down to the ground, “Not today, dear.”

“Then some other time?”

“Yes, some other time,” Toriel looks relieved. Frisk gives her a grin, and settles back down on the ground to continue their drawing.

Toriel glances back once at them before she goes down the stairs. Frisk hums happily as they pick up a new crayon. It’s a Crayola, their favourite. Unmellow Yellow, it’s called. Frisk thinks it’s perfect, and they get to work on the flower drawing.


	2. Chapter One: Knock on The Door

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans goes for a joking session, and meets somebody new.

There is a loud crash, some barking, and an angry yell. Sans sighs and opens up his eyes. He’s still tired.He regrets choosing the room above the kitchen more now than ever before.

He looks over to check the time, to no avail. He can’t find his clock in the mess of his room. It probably has been swept up in the garbage tornado. The thing silently whirls in the corner of his room. It gets bigger every day. He might actually have to do something if it takes his mattress.

He slumps off of the mattress, rubbing his eye sockets. He blindly reaches for his hoody and slides on his slippers. He makes sure to stuff his extra pillow under his rib cage, and zips up his sweater. Now that he’s fully dressed, he’s ready to go out and work.

He opens his door to see Papyrus trying to pull something from a little dog’s mouth. Sans smiles. He doesn’t know how the dog got here. But it’s crazy antics are enough to amuse him, so he lets it stay, much to Papyrus’s chagrin. Sans walks down the stairs, reaching the bottom just as Papyrus manages to pull his wooden spoon from the creature’s mouth. His brother lets out a triumphant “Nyeh heh heh!” before he turns to look at Sans.

“Sans! It’s almost noon! I am glad to see you up!” his brother says. Sans nods, despite not being asked a question. “I am just making some lunch now! Would you like some?”

Sans looks at the saliva covered spoon Papyrus is waving around, and gives his brother a small smile. “No thanks, bro. Despite how delicious it looks, I’m just not hungry.”

“Nonsense!” Papyrus exclaims, lifting his arms into the air. Half of the spaghetti falls off of the plate onto the ground. The dog has returned and is now eating the pasta off of the floor. Papyrus doesn’t even seem to notice. “Everybody is hungry for my spaghetti!”

“Maybe later,” Sans says. It’s a lie. There is no way Sans is going to eat that. Apart from being inedible, it’s most likely healthy. He can’t bear to let his fabulous body go to waste with healthy food.

“You should really eat breakfast, Sans! It is an important part of a productive day!” Papyrus says. He then pauses, narrowing his brows and frowning a little, “but then again, I am not sure if you have ever had a productive day.”

“Hey, I’m going to my station right now,” Sans tells him. He doesn’t tell him that he’s going there to have a quieter place to nap. Papyrus probably already knows that.

“On your way, you should recalibrate your puzzles! It’s been 28 days since you have done it! Your laziness is really breaking record levels!” Papyrus scolds him. Sans wonders if Papyrus actually keeps records of his laziness. He wouldn’t put it past him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do it today,” Sans says with a wave of his hand. Papyrus seems pleased, and he leaves to go finish making the spaghetti in the kitchen. After a couple of minutes, there is a loud crash. Sans shakes his head. He wouldn’t be surprised if there was a pot stuck in the ceiling by the time he got home. If there was, it would definitely add to the decor of his room.

Sans glances down to see that the newspaper has been delivered. He picks it up and checks the crossword. He’s lucky today. Papyrus has yet to fill all the answers with the letter z. Sans rips it out of the paper and stuffs it in his pocket. Hopefully the wrinkles in the paper don’t make it hard to read.

Out side of their house is as dreary as ever. Snow blankets the ground. It’s cold and wet and it doesn’t bother Sans at all.

Now Gryftmas has passed, the town has gone back to its usual state. The tree is still up, but the presents gone. The townsfolk’s attitude hasn’t changed though. Everybody is still holding onto the shred of hope. Everybody but Sans. Sans hasn’t had hope in a long time.

Sans doesn’t even bother to use the tunnels in the town, and instead, teleports straight to his station. He’s grateful that he has teleportation powers. They support his laziness. Maybe he got lazy in the first place because he could teleport. He doesn’t know, and he does not care.

He settles down in his chair, and pulls out his pillow. Luckily for him, his station is in a place where only Papyrus would ever come to check on him. Since Papyrus wasn’t even technically apart of the Guard, he couldn’t get Sans in any trouble.Everybody else has caught the lazy bug and doesn’t want to walk this far. It’s the perfect place for him to take a comfortable nap.

He spends a few seconds fluffing up his pillow to maximize his comfort, before he sets his head down and closes his eyes. Another day, another successful work shift. He falls asleep within seconds.

~                                                                                        ~                                                                                                  ~

He doesn’t know how long he’s been asleep for. The watch on his wrist has been broken for longer than he can remember. It probably just ran out of batteries, but Sans doesn’t care enough to check. He doesn’t feel like taking it off, and he hasn’t got the energy to actually get it fixed, or even to get another one. It’s a long teleport to the Garbage Dump, and an even longer one to Alphys’s house.

He supposes that it’s the proper time for him to go to the door. The lady behind the door wouldn’t mind if he was late. He often was. She expected it. Sometimes, he got their early enough to hear her practicing on the door. He’d stay and listen to her joke as quietly as he could. He didn’t last long most of the time; she was just too funny to keep quiet. Even if he was early, he’d always have a chance to bang out a couple ones to see how they’d go.

He wonders why the lady seems happier now than she usually was. The past couple of joking sessions had more laughter in them than most of the previous ones combined. It’s good that she’s happy, though. She always seemed to be a little bit lonely.

Sans feels good after his nap, and decides that a little walking can’t really hurt him. The trek to the door is one of the longest walks he’s done in weeks. He was wrong. A little walking is awful. He doesn’t get how people can normally do this. It makes him admire Papyrus even more, since his brother just runs everywhere.

He settles down on the ground by the door. He’s cleared the snow before, so there is a perfect, Sans-shaped spot for him to sit. It’s not like it would matter if he got wet anyways. He didn’t feel the cold. Perks of having no skin.

He lifts his hand and knocks. “Knock knock,” he says as his hand hits the door and makes some solid thuds.

“Who’s there?”

Sans is taken back by the response. It’s a different voice than usual. But, he’s started a joke, so he can’t just leave it hanging. “Otto.”

“Otto who?”

“Otto know, I’ve got amnesia.”

There is a pause. No laughter. Sans wonders why. It’s a pretty good bad joke in his opinion. Usually the lady would have been laughing like mad.

The voice sounds defeated when they say, “What’s an amnesia?” They butcher the pronunciation of the word. Sans can’t help but laugh.

“Amnesia is when somebody loses their memories,” Sans explains. “And they forget who they are. It usually happens after somebody hits their head.”

“Oooooohhh!” Sans can almost see the light bulb flicker on above their head, and he chuckles some more. Obviously, the owner of the voice is a child. “Can I try a joke?”

“Sure thing,” Sans says.

“Knock knock,” they say.

“Who’s there?”

“Frisk!”

“Frisk who?”

“It’s me! Frisk the human!” they said, giggling. Sans tries to fake a laugh, but the kid’s joke isn’t actually a joke, so he has a hard time. The kid can obviously tell that Sans isn’t finding it funny. He might have been a bit more convincing if he hadn’t just found out that the seventh and final human had been hiding behind a door he used for practicing jokes. “Sorry... I’m bad at jokes.”

“It takes a certain skill,” Sans tells them, trying to keep his cool. A human. Public enemy of the people’s hopes and dreams. The seventh soul needed to break the barrier. And they were just behind that door.

Sans tenses up. He’s sure a gaster blaster could break down the door. It’s not that sturdy, and who knows how long it’s been there for. It’s definitely doable. He clenches his hands into tight fists and looks at the door. He wonders what the human on the other side is thinking.

But they’re just a kid, and by the sounds of it, they don’t seem to be a very old one. Old enough for cognitive thinking, but young enough to not understand that sacrifice is sometimes necessary. But it’s just one human that they need. Was he really going to do this?

He’s brought out of his thoughts by the voice. The kid says, “Was my joke really that bad?”

He can’t do it. The kid is just too innocent. It reminds him of Papyrus.

“Nah, kid, it wasn’t that bad. I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it eventually. Want to hear a good one?” Sans says, trying to keep his voice calm. It isn’t that hard. He is pretty good at pretending.

“Uh huh!” Frisk says. They sound happy. They probably don’t know how much their life is truly worth to everybody in the Underground. Good. It’s better that they stay ignorant, or else they might try to do something stupid and noble.

“Why don’t elephants smoke?” Sans asks.

“Because it’s not good for them?” Frisk says.

“No,” Sans pauses for dramatic effect, “Because their butts don’t fit in the ashtray!”

It’s not the exact reaction that Sans wants, but the kid laughs. Sans isn’t sure if Frisk really gets the joke, but he supposed that they were at the age where just saying the word ‘butt’ was enough to make them laugh. He tries to think of other jokes of similar calibre that aren’t too inappropriate for a child.

“What do you call a person who doesn’t fart in public?” Sans says. The kid giggles at the mention of farts. Sans is already a hit. He should start touring.

“What?”

“A private tutor,” Sans finishes, and Frisk loses it. Sans smiles. It’s nice to have somebody else laugh at his jokes.

Sans is about to crack another one, when he’s interrupted.

“Frisk! There you are!” it’s the usual lady, sounding rather concerned. “I told you to never come down here!”

“But mum, you said that you were meeting a friend, and I wanted to meet them too!” Frisk protests, “They make very funny jokes, just like you. Mr. Otto is very funny.”

It’s at this point where Sans loses it. Otto. The kid thought that his actually name was Otto. It seemed that his first joke went much farther over Frisk’s head than Sans had originally thought. He clenches his ribs and sinks further down the door. Snow falls into his shorts, but he’s having too much of a good time laughing to even care. Otto. The kid thought that his name was Otto.

“What’s so funny?” Frisk asks, “Did I say something wrong?”

“My... name’s... not Otto,” Sans is wheezing. For somebody without lungs, he’s having a rather hard time catching his breath. He lets out another few laughs before he says, “I’m Sans, kid. Otto was just a joke.”

“Otto?” it’s the lady asking this time.

“I otto know that you’d ask,” Sans says, and she laughs. Sans feels better now that there is somebody in his audience that can appreciate the greatness of puns.

“So your name is Mr. Sans?” Frisk says.

“You don’t need to call me mister. Just Sans,” Sans says. There’s no harm in the kid knowing his name. The reason he never told the lady was because she never asked. Now she knew the name that came along with the jokes.

“Can you be my friend, Sans?” Frisk says. They’re quiet as they say this, and Sans almost doesn’t catch it over the lady’s laughter.

“Sure kid,” Sans says, “I’m always up for new friends. As long as it’s okay with your mum.”

“It’s fine with me,” she says, “As long as you promise to behave. No more coming down here without me, okay? I might have to not let you have some pie tonight, because you didn’t listen to me.”

“I was bored though!” the kid protests.

“Being bored is no excuse!” she says.

“Hey kiddo,” Sans says, pulling out the Junior Jumble from his pocket. It’s only slightly crinkled, and there’s a small ketchup stain on it, but the kid could definitely still use it. “If you’re so bored, why don’t you try one of these? They’re my brother’s favourite.”

Sans slides the Junior Jumble under the door.

It’s only a matter of seconds before he hears “Wow! A word search!”

“Sorry for not having a crossword,” Sans says.

“Now, Frisk, what do you say to Sans?” the lady says, sounding as motherly as is physically possible for one to sound.

“Thank you Sans!” Frisk says. They pause for a second, “And sorry mum. I won’t come down here by myself again. Can I please have some pie tonight?”

“Of course, my child,” she sounds amused. “You can have some now, if you wish. Only a small piece or you won’t get any tonight.”

“Really?” Frisk says ecstatically. “Bye Sans!”

Sans can hear the foot steps of something small fade away. He smiles.

“Pretty frisky kid, huh?” Sans says.

“They certainly are a ball of energy,” she replies. “I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. They’re pretty cool. How long have they been here?” Sans asks.

“Twenty days,” she says.

“So that’s why you were so happy last time,” Sans says.

He can almost hear her blush in her tone, “Of course I’m happy to have company!”

“My company’s not enough?” Sans teases.

She sighs, “Your company is appreciated. It’s just nice to have somebody around all the time.” She’s quiet for a bit, “Now... please don’t laugh at this, but do you think it’s selfish of me to keep them here?”

Sans takes his time responding. In terms of the greater good, it’s pretty selfish for this lady to keep a human locked away, especially the last one. But thinking of the kid and their good, it’s probably better for them to stay with the lady behind the door.

“Nah, it’s not that selfish to want somebody to hang with,” Sans says, “Plus, I’m sure you’re a wonderful momedian.”

She laughs at this. Sans hopes that he’s quelled her worries, at least for the mean time. He needs to get some jokes off of his chest. It’d be good for him to stop thinking about the fact that there was a human behind the door. It would probably relax the lady too. She probably knows what happens to humans once they get outside of the Ruins.

“Pie’d guess you’re an amazing mum,” Sans says. “You’d be breader than me at motherhood.”

“My my,” she says, a laugh in her voice, “Aren’t you on a roll.”

Sans snorts. There is nobody else in the underground who could think up puns to rival his like this lady can. Luckily for her, he’s got more jokes in his brain than anything else. He could keep joking like this for days.

“Hey, my friend’s bakery burned down last night,” Sans says.

“Oh dear! I hope everybody made it out a-rye-ve,” she says, obviously in mock concern. Sans snickers.

“Nobody was hurt, but his business is toast,” Sans finishes, complete with some jazz hands, even though she can’t see. If there was one thing Sans put effort into, it was his jokes. He’d do anything for a good laugh.

And a good laugh he gets. The lady is snorting and chortling. She seems to be having a hard time catching her breath. Death by puns wouldn’t be too bad, but Sans would miss his pun buddy, so he decides to wait before dropping his next joke.

Once it seems that a joke couldn’t kill his friend, Sans starts up a new one.

“Knock knock.”

“Who is there?”

“Etch.”

“Etch who?”

“Bless you!” Sans says. She laughs again, and he’s feeling pretty good.

Suddenly, there is a loud noise, like somebody had dropped something metal. It sounds pretty heavy. Wow, the kid is more like Papyrus than Sans originally had thought.

“Oh dear,” says the lady, “It seems as though Frisk has gotten themselves into trouble... I should go to see what happened... do you mind?”

“Of course not,” Sans says, “Do you mind if I come around tomorrow?”  
“Certainly! I will see you then. Now please excuse me.”

Sans doesn’t respond. She’s already gone. He sighs. He didn’t know why he asked to see her tomorrow. Maybe it’s because he felt like his joke time was cut short. Maybe it’s because he wants to know more about the kid. Probably the kid. He slumps down on the door. A human kid. The last thing to getting monsters out of the underground.

It’s none of his business, he decides. It would take too much energy to care about it, and even more energy to break down the door and fight the lady for them.

Thinking of energy, Sans thinks that perhaps it’s time for another nap. His pillow is still at his station, just waiting for Sans’s head to rest on it. He stands up and cracks the joints in his hand. Time to practice his teleportation powers. In the second before he disappears, Sans could swear that he hears the sound of a camera zooming in.

It was probably just his imagination.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was asked about the length of the chapters. I will try to make them at least 3000 words long, but I have already planned out the entire story, so if it falls a little flat of that, I am sorry! 
> 
> About the change of perspective; the rest of the story will be told from Sans's point of view.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter Two: Artistry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans goes back to the door to talk more about the human, and finds out some unsettling things about Frisk's past.

He finds the stalk of Junior Jumbles where Papyrus said they would be. His brother is excited to think that Sans is actually interested in doing Junior Jumbles instead of boring old crosswords. Sans doesn’t have the heart to tell him that it’s not actually for him. Hopefully Papyrus won’t be too upset to find out that his puzzle has been changed to be a crossword.

He just hopes that Frisk likes word searches, because there really isn’t much else Sans can slide under the door. But, since the kid was desperate enough to go see him at the door, Sans supposes that word searches are better than waiting by an old door for a knock. He wonders what the lady did when she was waiting for their joking sessions.

He puts the word searches in his pillow case, and then shoves it under his ribcage. Zipping up his sweater, Sans is ready to go to the door. He slept in today because Papyrus had been busy with something other than cooking. He would have liked to sleep longer, but he was the one who asked if he could see them today, and it would be rude to not show up. Sans was lazy, but he certainly wasn’t rude.

Papyrus is sitting on the couch, watching some MTT show. He has the volume up so loud that Sans can hear everything perfectly from the second floor. It seems as though it’s a cooking show, or something of that calibre. From what Sans has seen, MTT was about as good at cooking as Papyrus was, which is probably why his brother had the delusion that his cooking was excellent. Sans wasn’t going to burst his bubble, though.

“Sans! You are awake! I can’t believe how late you have slept in! It’s way past noon!” Papyrus exclaims upon seeing Sans. Sans shrugs. The only reason why he knew the time was because Papyrus is constantly yelling at him for being late.

“StiiiiiiiIIIIIRRRRRRR FASTER!!!” comes a shout from the TV. Sans sees the rectangle of a robot pose dramatically with one arm, as the other one starts stirring so fast that half of the contents in the pot come flying out. Some of the soup hits the camera dramatically. It’s a fluorescent shade of magenta. The editor of the show adds a fake splatting sound and some glitter. Mettaton changes his pose and says, “OOOOOOHHH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.”

“Exactly!” Papyrus agrees, clenching his fist excitedly, “Stirring fast is key to getting proper flavour! It’s exactly as Undyne says! Perhaps Mettaton is taking cooking lessons from her!”

Sans hopes the robot isn’t. There have been way too many fires in Waterfall, they didn’t need to have a famous robot adding to them. Poor Napstablook might has well be living in Hotland with all the fires that they’ve had to put up with.

Sans simply says, “Probably, bro,” and makes his way towards the door. Papyrus turns to look at him. He has disapproval written on his face. Sans wonders what he did wrong this time.

“Are you leaving without breakfast again?” Papyrus asks, getting up from the couch, “I have some spaghetti from yesterday if you are interested in that... or perhaps I could make you some more? There is never enough spaghetti in the world!”

Papyrus marches toward the kitchen excitedly, going to get one of the many jars of spaghetti stuffed in his half of the fridge. Sans hadn’t the heart to tell Papyrus that there was probably enough spaghetti in this house to satisfy the world. Too bad there is only one person in the world that would eat it.

It takes a few seconds, but Papyrus comes back with a jar of his spaghetti. The noodles are crammed against the glass, giving the jar a distinct-brain like look. It doesn’t help that the sauce has completely saturated the noodles.

Papyrus holds it out with a hopeful look in his eye, “Will this do?”

“It’s perfect,” Sans says, and he takes it. He leaves the house, the last thing he seeing is Papryus’s large smile.

It’s too big to slide under the door to the Ruins, so he’d have to find another way to dispose of it. If he just left it at his station, he could always lie and say he was saving it for a snack. He glances down at the jar of spaghetti in his hand. “You’re never going to be eaten, buddy.”

The spaghetti does not respond. Good. Sans is too tired for an argument.

Sans tries to shove it in his pocket, but the packets of ketchup Sans had taken from Grillby’s were taking up too much room. He sighs. He can’t leave his brother’s spaghetti right in front of their door, so he drops the ketchup packets on the snow. He tells them that he’ll come back to them, and whispers a soft “I’ll miss you,” before covering them up with a light layer of snow. The jar of spaghetti takes their place. It must be it’s revenge, since Sans isn’t going to eat it.

Once he’s finished clearing out his pockets of valuables, Sans teleports to the door at the Ruins. He takes a couple of seconds to position his pillow properly, before he raps his fist against the door.

“Knock knock,” he says.

“Who’s there?” it’s the lady. He guesses that she didn’t bring the kid with her this time.

“Robin.”

“Robin who?”

“I’m Robin you! Hand over your gold!”

She laughs for a little while. It’s a coarse laugh. It sounds forced. She’s not her usual self today. She goes abruptly quiet. Sans waits for her to say something. She gives out a large exhale, before she says, “I have a feeling that you’re not here just for jokes today.”

“You’ve guessed right,” Sans says.

“You want to talk about Frisk.”

Sans can’t think of a proper pun at the moment, so he simply answers with “Yup.”

“Have you told anybody about them?” she asks, in a hushed voice.

“Nope,” Sans says, “I figured you were keeping them in the Ruins for a reason.”

“Frisk has been through a lot already. They don’t need to deal with monsters trying to kill them,” she says sternly. Sans is about to say something when he gets cut off, “They’re only eight... and by the looks of it they don’t have a good home life...”

Sans is quiet for a few seconds, “Bruises?” he prods a little, seeing if she’s ready to answer.

“Yes... I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be burdening you with this information. They only are suspicions after all. Spreading rumours about Frisk is the last thing I want,” she says, “I’m just... concerned for them.”

“It’s okay,” Sans says, “I practically raised my brother, I know how kids are supposed to act. You can lay it on me. I promise I won’t tell anybody, y’know, about Frisk?”

“I do appreciate that, Sans,” she says, “I asked them why they came to Mount Ebott. After all, humans have their stories about people who disappear here. Frisk simply told me that they ran away, but they wouldn’t say from whom.”  
“Hmmm,” Sans says. It’s an awfully shifty behaviour coming from a kid. Most kids around Frisk’s age were too scared to lie to parental figures. He wonders what makes them different.

“And just yesterday, I accidentally broke a plate, and Frisk looked at me like I was going to blame them for it!” she continues, “They never told me how they got their bruises, either, and no matter how hurt they get, they seem afraid to cry! The only time I’ve ever actually gotten them to tell me what was wrong was after they had a nightmare... I’m trying so hard to make them happy... do you think there is something wrong with me?”

Sans is taken aback by her final statement. There is no way that this lady could possibly be bad for the kid. She’s nearly crying because she think that she’s causing them pain.

“Nah,” Sans says, “It sounds they were abused back where they came from. Angry parents who probably didn’t want a kid. Frisk is probably having a hard time adjusting to a loving parent. They probably expect you to yell and such. Trust me, lady, you’re the best thing that’s happened to them. Give ‘em time.”

“You sound experienced in this matter, Sans,” she sounds concerned, now for him. Sans shakes his head. This lady had too much heart to give.

“I’m not, don’t worry,” Sans says, “I just looked up some parenting books for Papyrus. Didn’t want to hurt him.”

She gives a soft chuckle, “I’m sure you are a wonderful brother, Sans. Do you mind doing me a favour?”

Sans doesn’t like favours. He doesn’t like to owe anybody anything. It often meant effort. But, he supposes that one favour couldn’t hurt. “Sure.”

“If anything were to happen to me, will you promise to take care of Frisk? They’re already so fond of you,” she says.

Oh dear, a promise. Sans isn’t one for promises either. They’re even worse than favours. Forever binding, crossing your heart and hoping to die, and all of that crap. But after hearing about all the kid’s been through, he can’t say no. The lady is his joking buddy, anyways. She’s been there for him when he needed some laughs, so he can be there for her when she needs to be reassured.

“Will do,” he tells them. She gives a relieved sigh. Sans feels somewhat good about himself. Maybe making promises aren’t so bad after all.

“By the way,” she says, her voice considerably calmer than before, “Frisk was wondering what you looked like. They said it was very important.”

“Well, if it’s important, I must deliver,” Sans says. “It’ll take a few seconds, but I’ll get you a drawing.”

He reaches into his pillowcase and pulls out the Junior Jumbles. Luckily, they don’t have any writing on the back, so it’s a perfect space for drawing. There’s only one problem. Sans doesn’t carry any sort of drawing utensil around with him. Why fill your pockets with useful things when they can be filled with ketchup? And today he doesn’t even have ketchup because Papyrus’s jar of spaghetti was taking up too much room.

He supposes he’ll have to branch out from his usual art style only slightly. Spaghetti did have a tomato based sauce in it. It was practically ketchup with noodles, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to use. Sans pulls out the jar of spaghetti. Still, it says nothing, but he can feel it gloating from inside the jar.

Since Papyrus doesn’t know how to properly secure jars, the lid pops off easily. Sans carefully extracts his first noodle, and makes it into a circle, putting it on the paper. He waits a couple of seconds for it to freeze in place, before he adds his eyes with some sauce.

The remaining details take a little time, and eventually, Sans is left with a poor noodle-art version of himself on the back of a Junior Jumble. He takes a couple of seconds to admire it. It’s truly a piece of art. He hopes that the kid appreciates it just as much as he does.

Sans slides it under the door, “Here you go. Sorry, I’m no artist.”

The lady simply laughs. He can hear the rustling of paper from the other side of the door, and holds his breath. He wonders how long it’s going to take before she-

“Sans, is this spaghetti?”

“It is indeed. Never heard of noodle art?”

“I most certainly have heard of noodle art but... I would have thought you had a pen!”

“Sorry, lady, I don’t carry pens around me. I’m no business monster. Besides, this is a pici of art,” Sans tells her. She laughs at his noodle pun. Sans smiles, “You better get that to them quick, before it melts off of the page.”

“I gnocchi a piece of art when I see one, Sans,” she says back, still giggling, “I must go then. Frisk will be happy to see that you’ve drawn this. I will hear from you later?”

“Yeah... just wait a second, I have some more word searches for Frisk,” Sans says, pulling the rest of them out of his pillowcase. He jams them under the door. “I hope they like word searches.”

“They did like the first one you gave them,” she reassures him, “I’m sure they will appreciate these. Now, I must go before your art melts.”

“Ok. Tell the kid I say hi.”

“I will do that... Thank you, Sans.”

He’s left standing in the cold by himself, smiling. The only reminder of his artwork is that phalanges are stained with pasta sauce.

The spaghetti jar stares on at him in silence. Sans stares back. “What are you looking at?”

Though the spaghetti does not respond, Sans has had just about enough of its attitude and punts it into the nearby woods.

~                                                                                             ~                                                                                                ~

 

He gets home after a round of napping at his various stations. He retrieves his ketchup packets from outside the door, and stuffs them into his pockets again. They’re frozen solid, but after a while in his pockets, they should be good.

He opens the door to see Papyrus talking on his cellphone. It only takes two seconds to realize who it is, because Undyne always has to shout things over the phone. Sans shuffles to the couch and flops down on it. It jangles as he hits it. He’s too lazy to find out why.

Papyrus hears him land on the couch and whirls around, looking somewhat surprised. His voice gets quieter when he talks on the phone, and he quickly hangs up. Papyrus has never done something like this before. He was usually quite open about his training with Undyne. Usually, Sans wouldn’t care what was going on. But his brother was acting suspicious, and Sans needed to know if there was anything wrong.

“What was that all about?” he asks.

Papyrus gives a start, and then forces a smile on his face, “It was a very important call! You are not to know why! It is a surprise! Nyeh heh... heh... You are home too early! Shouldn’t you still be working? Why does a hard working skeleton like me have such a lazy brother like you? You’re giving me a bad name!”

Sans furrows his brows, but Papyrus obviously doesn’t want to talk about it, so he’s not going to push.

“Ok,” Sans says, and he gets up off the couch. He’ll treat Papyrus to a surprise, and actually go back to work. It seems as though his brother wants some privacy. Sans doesn’t mind. People need to be alone every once and a while.

He goes back outside and teleports back to his Snowdin watch station. As he’s fluffing up his pillow, a hint of curiosity hits him. He knows he’s already checked the door today, but after the kid came along, it just became so much more interesting. He’s bored out of his mind, anyways.

He teleports to the door and gives a brief knock. Nobody answers. He supposes he was being too zealous. He’s about to go back to his station when he notices a piece of paper sticking out from the bottom of the door. He bends down and picks it up.

It’s a crude crayon drawing of two monsters and a human child in a striped sweater. Over their respective heads read “MUM, FRISK AND SANS” with the K in Frisk’s name being written backwards. Sans is impressed by the drawing. It’s almost a perfect copy of his spaghetti art. The kid must have guessed the colours of his sweater, because it’s yellow instead of blue. Unmellow Yellow, probably.

It’s still the cutest thing Sans has seen in a long time, and he gently folds it and sticks it in his pocket.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's not as long as I had hoped, but I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for reading and please comment!


	4. Chapter Three: The Royal Guard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Undyne comes by to check on the members of the Royal Guard.

The sound of water flowing into an endless abyss makes perfect background noise for napping. At first, it was too loud, but after having a station here for a while, Sans is used to it. He can sleep through most things anyways. One Sans buries his face deeper into the pillow as he is stirred from his sleep by loud stomping.

He looks up. Undyne is dressed in her armour, a spear ready in her hand, flanked by RG01 and RG02. Sans doesn’t know their names. He’s beginning to think that they don’t have any. Undyne glances in his direction briefly, her eye narrowing in what was probably disgust, before she continued on. Sans is surprised that she didn’t stop to talk. She usually has a grand time of telling him how lazy he is. Sans even has an entire list of fish puns tacked to his station just incase she stops. He just supposes she’s as busy as he is.

It’s no surprise that Undyne is coming through here. She often comes to Snowdin to check on all of the guards there. After all, there are more watch stations around Snowdin than there are in the rest of the Underground. Most of the Royal Guards live there. Undyne comes by for routine checks, she comes by to have a drink at Grillby’s, and she used to come by to cook with Papyrus before she lit their blender on fire.

What Sans is more shocked about is the fact that Undyne didn’t stop by to scold him for being so lazy. It was almost one of her favourite pass times. That, and making gross kissy faces at Alphys’s pictures on her phone when she thought nobody was looking. Sans should have mentioned to her that there were always people looking, but she’d probably spear him through the eye.

He nuzzles back down into his pillow with a huff. Undyne’s armour rudely interrupted his nap, and Sans needs his beauty sleep. How else is he going to have the clearest skin of them all? He slowly gets soothed back to sleep by the sound of the water.

When he wakes, he’s feeling somewhat rested, which is better than extremely exhausted. He’s given up on ever feeling well rested. He doesn’t think it’s even possible anymore. Maybe if he was in a coma for a couple of years.

He’s actually feeling pretty hungry, and it’s been a while since he’s actually eaten something decent. He doesn’t want to go back home; Papyrus has been acting weird. He teleports to his fourth and final station, which also serves as a hotdog stand.

As soon as he opens, a flock of his regulars come by. Sans is glad for the business. Though working at three different guard stations certainly brought in a decent amount of money, with Papyrus being unemployed, every piece of gold helped. Once Sans has served everybody, he makes his own hotdog.

He listens to the monsters talk as he piles the ketchup on.

“Did you hear it? We’re going to get out of here soon!” says one as they hold their hotdog in their feet. It’s somewhat unsanitary, but since they don’t have arms, Sans isn’t going to judge. Sans picks up his hotdog and takes a large bite. Ketchup oozes off of it, dripping onto the counter. He smiles, only half listening to the conversation.

“Out of here? Do you mean Hotland?” says another.

“No! I mean the Underground!”

“I thought we needed one more human soul? No human has fallen down.”

“We do need one more, but there’s a human! They fell into the Ruins and have been hiding there ever since. Didn’t you watch MTT? Mettaton had a whole segment on it,” they say.

“I missed this morning’s broadcast. Tell me what’s going to happen!”

“Well, King Asgore has already sent the Royal Guard to go get them! We will finally have our last soul!” They shake their hotdog enthusiastically. Bits of the bun and some mustard go flying off of it as they do so. The other monster doesn’t seem to mind being showered with hotdog, and eagerly looks on. The thought of freedom too strong to think of anything else.

Sans is trying to calm himself down at this point. How did they ever find out about Frisk? Sans hadn’t told anybody. He may have hated promises, but he certainly kept the ones that he took. He was hoping that Frisk could simply live a happy life in the Ruins, and when they died, the lady would give their soul to help the freedom of monsters.

He needs to warn them... but Undyne left for the door ages ago. She probably already got there. There is no point on him stumbling blindly into the situation. He can’t leave the stand immediately without looking suspicious anyways. It’s no doubt that whoever found out about Frisk also knows that Sans was keeping them secret.

“We’ll finally be able to see the sun, the moon! The stars!” the monster says. Sans watches as their face falls, “But isn’t the door to the Ruins locked? Isn’t the door sturdy?”

“That’s why they sent Undyne! Captain of the Royal Guard! If there is anybody who can break down that door, it’s her,” the monster says, continuing to gesture wildly with their feet.

“So we are going to be free!”

Sans locks his jaw and tries to take in the information. He convinces himself to think rationally. The door was sturdy. Even he wasn’t sure that his gaster blaster would break through it. Plus, Frisk has the lady behind the door. They would be safe. Sans’s figurative guts turn as he continues to think. The lady would die for Frisk, and Undyne would stop at nothing for freedom. He is certain of that.

He needs to get back to his home. He needs to go see if they are alright.

He doesn’t even bother closing the stand properly. He checks to see if nobody’s watching and then teleports back to Snowdin. It’s absolute chaos when he gets their. All members of the guard are amassed by the Gryftmas tree where Undyne standing and waving a spear around energetically. They are all standing far enough away from her to not get accidentally caught up in her spear waving. The distance doesn’t matter, Undyne is shouting loud enough for the whole town to hear. Papyrus is watching on the edge of the crowd of Royal Guards, as are most of the citizens of the town.

“The final human has fallen!” Undyne yells. She’s a bit too loud for the crowd she’s amassed, but Sans is certain that Undyne doesn’t really have volume control. “They’ve escaped the Ruins and should be somewhere in Snowdin! Check your houses for the little brat and if you find them, send them to me!”

Sans has come a little too late. They already sieged the Ruins and broken down the door. Apparently they escaped, so at leas the two of them are safe for now. Sans walks over to his brother, hoping to get some more information out of him.

“So, uh, what’s all the ruckus about?” Sans probes, hoping that Papyrus isn’t too occupied with listening to Undyne’s ranting. Papyrus’s voice is almost drowned out by Undyne’s loud “NGAAAAAAAAHHHHH” as she demonstrates how she’s going to kill the human.

“Haven’t you heard already? A human has escaped from the Ruins! They were being protected by a boss monster, and she carried them out of the Ruins. Undyne says that they can’t have gotten very far, since she is hur-” Papyrus glances down to see who he is talking to and realizes that it’s his brother. “Sans! You shouldn’t be here! Undyne is not happy with you!”

“What’d I do this time?” Sans asks casually. So the lady is probably hurt, but they are both safe for now. Great.

“You didn’t report the human! If Doctor Alphys didn’t have her cameras, we would have never known about them!” Papyrus scolds him, “Undyne is very angry with you! She thinks that you are on the human’s side! After they’ve kept us down here for so long! She thinks you’re a traitor!”

Alphys’s cameras. Sans had completely forgotten about them. They were put in place for this exact reason; to find a human if they were to enter the underground. He never thought that there would be a camera all the way out there. He thought he was the only one who ever bothered even going there.

He tries to act normal in front of Papyrus, “Nah, bro, I’m not a traitor, I’m just tired.”

“Too tired to report the seventh human?” Papyrus asks, his eyebrow raised. Sans wonders if Papyrus really knows about his relationship with the human.

“Yup. So tired I could take a nap right now,” he lies. He can sleep any time except now. He’s too worried about his pun buddy and her kid.

“Sans! How can you be tired at a time like this? It’s our freedom!” Papyrus says, before he turns back to listen to what Undyne is saying.

“Spread out and find them! We can’t let them get away! For the sake of all monsters!” she waves her spear dramatically. Sans wonders if she’s been practicing this speech for quite some time now. He wouldn’t put it past her. “We have to get this soul, for the hopes and dreams of all monsters! Now go!”

She slams the blunt end of the spear into the ground, causing the snow to go flying up. The Royal Guards all depart, heading towards the door to the Ruins. Undyne looks like she’s about to follow them, when Papyrus walks up to her. Sans stays behind. Approaching Undyne now would probably end him up with a spear in his chest.

“Can I help too?” Papyrus says to her.

“Sure, Papyrus, we need all the help we can get,” Undyne says. She’s then approached by Doggo, who seems to be curious about whether or not the human moves. Sans listens as she tells Doggo that the human wouldn’t be moving ever again after she is done with it. Sans doesn’t doubt it.

“If I capture the human, can I join the Royal Guard?” Papyrus says.

“Sure sure,” Undyne says with a wave of her hand, clearly more interested in what Doggo has to say. Sans nows that his brother doesn’t understand simple social cues like this, and it’s clear on Papyrus’s face that he thinks Undyne genuinely accepted his request. Sans is sure she probably didn’t even fully comprehend what he said. Whether she did or not, she has motivated Papyrus to find the human more now than when she was giving her speech.

Undyne then waves goodbye to him, still talking with Doggo as she follows the remainder of her guard into the woods of Snowdin. All that’s left now of her visit is the bare spot where she was standing, all of the snow being blown away by her vigorous spear motions.

Papyrus waves goodbye at her until she turns a corner and is no longer visible. Papyrus then turns tail and comes rushing back to Sans, his eyes alight with determination. “Did you hear? I am going to become part of the Royal Guard! I’ll be the best! I must capture this human, Sans, now even more than ever! You better not hold me back! Nyeh heh heh!”

“Good luck, bro,” Sans says, “I’m going to be taking a nap.”

“You’re always tired, Sans!” Papyrus says, before he sighs, “Why does a great skeleton like me need to put up with such a lazy bones like you?”

Sans shrugs, having no clear explanation. Papyrus could move out at anytime, he just chooses not to, that’s how cool he is. Sans appreciates that.

He hasn’t a clue what he’s going to do now. He can’t go looking for the kid and the lady without Undyne accusing him of being a traitor. He supposes he could just lie and say he’s trying to help them find them, but then Papyrus could get suspicious of him. If he really didn’t care about the kid, he would have simply just gone back to one of his stations and taken a nap. He can’t go pretending to look when it’s so uncharacteristic of him.

He waves as his brother disappears into the distance. As soon as Papyrus is out of sight, his hand drops, and he stuffs it into his pocket. His hand brushes over a piece of paper. Sans furrows his brows. He never usually keeps useful things such as paper on his person. He pulls it out and unfolds it.

He’s greeted with the drawing Frisk had gifted them with. A wave of guilt hits Sans. He has to help them, because there is nobody else who’s going to. He curses the day he decided to go to the door to practice knock knock jokes as he puts the drawing back into his pockets.

Well, if there was ever a time for him to care about finding a human, it was now. He sighs to himself, and then starts to walk to his station. He can’t teleport when there are so many people around. People could have their suspicions about his powers, but he didn’t need to confirm anything. If they found out, Sans would have to do so many favours. Plus, there might be the chance that he finds Frisk before somebody else does.

The woods are unusually busy. Most of the town folk of Snowdin have decided to join the hunt for the human. Sans walks by them all, nodding their head when he made eye contact with anybody.

He kept his head down when he shuffled by Undyne. The last thing he needs is to be stopped and yelled at by an angry fish lady. He needs to find the two of them and he needs to find them fast.

It seems as though but didn’t really need to. act so sneaky She is too busy stabbing some snow poffs because she is certain that the human is hiding in it. Sans is certain the woods are never going to look the same again.

He manages to get by everybody without being stopped. Papyrus is too busy setting up a trap to notice Sans. The spaghetti he is setting out has already frozen to the table, and the unplugged microwave he is currently scribbling over could never help it. Sans peers at it and sees that he’s writing ‘SPAGHETTI’ over all of the buttons. He hides a small laugh as he walks by.

It’s when he’s walking by Dogamy and Dogaressa when he sees something unusual. It’s a flash of yellow that isn’t usually around. It reminds him of the colour the kid drew his sweater as. At first he think’s it’s Frisk, but when he looks again it seems to have disappeared in the snow. He’s glad that it’s not the kid. If it was, he’d have a hard time hiding them from the two watch dogs who are currently sniffing up the place like mad.

Finally, he makes it to his station. Bits of the broken door have flown into the little hut he usually sits at. It’s a total mess. He hopes Undyne is going to pay to get it fixed because he’s definitely not going to. He decides to take a break there before he goes to check the Ruins for any sign of Frisk and the lady. He needs time to assess the damage that the large chunk of door has caused. How hard did Undyne even smash that door with? He’s surprised she hasn’t totally exhausted her magic for the day.

He’s just about to sit on his stool (which is surprisingly still intact) when he sees something out of the corner of his eye. He stops, and turns to get a better look. “Oh... hey kiddo.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have changed my user name to Garden_Mage, so yeah.
> 
> Also, I have affectionately renamed this chapter "When shit hits the fan" but I'm going to keep the title a little bit more professional. 
> 
> Thank you for reading and please comment!


	5. Chapter Four: Heartbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans finds Frisk at his broken station.

Frisk is huddled in the corner of the broken station. Snot has frozen on their upper lip, which is an unnatural shade of blue. Their face is pale, their cheeks a bright red, and they are clutching something in their blue hands. Sans bends down and puts a hand on their shoulder gently. The kid makes a start, pulling away from Sans’s touch and hitting their head on the station. Sans withdraws his hand and finds that it’s covered in a weird, dusty powder. Now that he’s looking at it more clearly, Frisk is covered in it. It’s in their sweater, their hair, and it covers the ground around them.

“Where’s the lady?” Sans asks in a calm, quiet voice. The kid is obviously startled and Sans doesn’t want to make it worse. Apparently he’s not good at being calming, because the kid begins to cry loudly. “Woah, woah, kiddo, what’s wrong?”

They continue to sob, bringing their hands up to cover their eyes. Sans just looks at the kid, unsure of what to do. He supposes he should try to console Frisk, though he’s not sure how. He gingerly wraps his arm around the kid, pulling them into a soft hug. Frisk presses their face against his shoulder, burying it into the fluffy sweater as they begin to sob harder. Sans awkwardly runs his hand down their back in what he thinks might be a soothing motion.

“Hey buddy, you must be freezing,” Sans says. He wishes he actually had a body to produce body heat for the kid to sap up. Instead, he reaches down with his spare hand and unzips his sweater, pulling the kid into it. “Frisk, you need to tell me what’s wrong.”

The kid still doesn’t say anything, sniffling into Sans’s clavicle. Sans sighs. “Come on, kid. Let’s get you somewhere warm.”

Frisk jerks away, shaking their head and sniffing, “No... no!”

“Kiddo, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you,” Sans says. He doesn’t move towards them, afraid that they are going to bolt into the woods and get caught by one of the Royal Guards.

“You already did hurt me!” they exclaim, backing up so they’re pressing against the station. Sans glances down at their shoes, which are soaked through and starting to freeze on the outside. If he doesn’t calm Frisk down soon, the kid is either going to lose a couple of toes or a Royal Guard would hear them.

“What do you mean? How did I hurt you?”

“You told them! You told the mean blue lady where I was! You’re the reason why they came in” Frisk shouts at him, before they break down into uncontrollable sobs. Sans tries to wrap his arms around him in comfort, but Frisk moves away, “I thought you were my friend! I... wanted to trust you...”

“Frisk, I said nothing about you. They have cameras around the door, they heard our joking... I didn’t tell anybody,” Sans says.

“NO! You liar! All grown-ups are liars!” Frisk yells, “You got mum killed! You’re the reason why she died! It’s all your fault I’m alone!”

Frisk wails and then buries his face in his arms. Sans sits there, momentarily numbed by the news. So the lady is dead. No wonder the kid is covered in dust. Sans was right in thinking that she would give her life for the kid. He can’t believe it’s true though. His joking buddy, a lady he considered his friend, gone.

Sans tries hard to keep his voice steady as he says, “I swear I didn’t tell anybody, Frisk. I’m on your side. I don’t want you to get hurt.” Sans pulls off his sweater, and cautiously drapes it over Frisk’s shoulders. The kid puts the hood up and hides their face in the fabric. “You can’t stay here, Frisk. They’re looking for you. They’re going to kill you if they find you.”

“Good,” Frisk’s voice is muffled by the sweater.

“No, not good,” Sans corrects, “Do you think she’d want you to die?”

Frisk has no response. Sans feels bad using the lady’s death as guilt tripping, but if it would motivate Frisk to move, he’s willing to do it. Frisk turns away from Sans, hiding their face into the wood of the broken station.  
“Listen, Frisk. I have a place that’s a secret from everybody. It’s warm, safe and dry. I can even bring you some food from the local diner,” Sans tells them, “So please, come with me.”

Frisk sniffs loudly and then mumbles, “Do they have hamburgers there?”

“They do indeed,” Sans says. Frisk moves out of the corner, and looks at Sans. Their eyes are red and puffy, still leaking unintentionally. Sans offers his hand. The kid takes it.

“How’re we gonna go in secret?” Frisk says, “You said they are looking for me?”

Sans gives Frisk a small smile, “Do you want to be my assistant in a magic trick?”

Frisk slowly nods.

“Ready? Here we go.”

Sans teleports the two of them to his workshop. There is not much in it, but it’s the best place for the kid to be in at the moment. The only sounds are the soft hum of machines and Frisk’s breathing.

“Are you okay?” Sans asks, letting go of their hand.

“”m tired,” Frisk says softly.

“The cold saps up all your energy. I’ll be back in a moment, just let me get some things for you,” Sans says, and he’s about to teleport away when Frisk grabs the back of his shirt.

“You’ll come back, right?” They ask, wide-eyed. Sans realizes that they’re scared, and he pulls them in for a brief hug.

“Of course, Frisk, I won’t leave you,” Sans says. Frisk goes limp in his arms, indicating that they don’t want him to let go. Sans gently pries away from the kid, “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Feel free to take off your shoes.”

Sans smiles at the kid once more before he teleports away. When he arrives in his room, he groans loudly and falls face first into his mattress. He never expected to actually have to hold up his promise. He thought that they would be okay behind the door to the Ruins. He thought wrong.

He scraps himself off of the mattress, and then goes to his pile of socks. The kid’s are probably soaked through, so the least he can do it offer them a new pair. He pulls out a pair that seems to be matching and then stuffs them in his pocket. He hopes they’re clean. He can’t remember the last time he did laundry.

Sans doesn’t have any blankets in his room, and he left his pillow at the hotdog station, so he’s going to have to venture into Papyrus’s room in order to get some. He always kept them nice and folded and neat in his closet. Neat is something that Sans does not know how to do.

He’s about to open the door when something rattling in the tornado catches his eye. A box of crayons are currently whipping around with the garbage. Sans is sure that it’s missing some colours, in fact he can see some lose crayons flying around, but it’s better than nothing. He reaches in and snatches the box out of the tornado. Hopefully Frisk appreciates it.

He peers out the door. Nobody’s home. Papyrus is probably out looking for Frisk. Sans wonders how his brother would feel to know that the human is in his house. He chortles under his breath, and then walks to Papyrus’s room.

It’s as tidy as usual. His bed is made, his action figures shined up, and not a think is on his floor. Sans has to keep himself from mixing up the action figures. Any other day he would, but Papyrus doesn’t need to know that Sans was in his room today. He doesn’t need Papyrus asking more questions than usual.Sans finds an extra pillow and comforter in the closet, as well as some Junior Jumbles and a colouring book. With the comforter tucked under his arm, he teleports back to Frisk.

The kid has removed their shoes, as well as their socks, and is pressed into the corner of the room. They’re still sniffling, but their tears have stopped. Their eyes are not focused on anything in particular. They look even more dishevelled than when Sans found them at his station. They no longer remind him of Papyrus. They remind him of himself.

“Hey Frisk,” Sans says. Their eyes snap into focus, and they stare at him like they are trying to bore a hole into the back of his skull. Sans pretends to not notice.

“I got you some dry socks. I’d let you stay in my room, but it’s dirtier than here. Plus, I’m the only one who knows about this place,” Sans rambles. The kid just watches him silently.

He sets the stuff down, giving Frisk the pillow and comforter. They don’t say anything, and reach for it with one hand. Sans still can’t see what’s in the other hand, and it’s beginning to bother him. He knows that Frisk won’t hurt him, so it’s unlikely to be a weapon, but apart from that, he has no idea.

Frisk settles down into the floor, wrapping the blanket around themselves and hiding under it. Sans gives them a worried look, but says, “You’re probably tired. It’s okay to take a nap. I’m going to go out to get some food.”

The kid makes no move to tell Sans that they heard him. Sans sighs, and teleports out of the workshop to the living room. Once he’s there, he flops down on the couch.

He’s exhausted. He cannot remember a time when he’s felt this drained. He has a fugitive kid in his basement, and the rest of the Underground against him. He really needs to go to Grillby’s.

When Sans enters Grillby’s, it’s packed. Sans doesn’t know how long it’s been since he found the kid, but it’s been long enough for people to have given up. Everybody must be tired from their search, because the amount of food that is set out on the tables is troubling.

He’s surprised to see the two Royal Guards, whose names he does not know, sitting inside. He thought that they would still be outside, looking for the human. He keeps his head down. He’s still not sure if people know about his interactions with the human through the door. Sans walks by them and sits in his usual spot.

“Hey Grillbz. I’ll have an order of burg and fries please,” Sans says, trying to sound normal. He’ll save the burger for Frisk, but right now, he needs some fries. Grillby seems to know that Sans isn’t feeling too well, because when he comes back with the food, he sets a jumbo bottle of ketchup on the counter. Sans gives his friend a terse smile, “Thanks.”

He’s drowning his fries in ketchup when something hits the counter hard enough to cause a few of his fries to fly up out of the container and land on the counter, leaving ketchup smears over it. He looks over to see that a blue scaly hand has left a dent in the counter. He takes his time moving his gaze up until he makes eye contact with the fuming captain of the guard.

“Hey, Undyne,” Sans says. He grabs a french fry, dips it in the ketchup left on the counter, and puts it in his mouth. It stays dangling there as he asks, “Can I help you?”

“You sure as hell can help me, Sans!” Undyne yells. The bar goes very quiet. everybody staring at the Captain of the guard. Sans is not happy about the extra attention, but he pretends he doesn’t notice the stares. He’s just glad that Papyrus doesn’t come to Grillby’s. He doesn’t want his brother to see his best friend getting mad at him.

“Cool. It’s snow problem. What do you need help with?” Sans asks calmly. Undyne’s eye twitches, and Sans is sure that one of her veins are going to burst if she keeps this up.

“Ngah! You know exactly what you can help me with, you punk!” Undyne snarls, slamming her hand against the counter again. “The human! You knew about it the whole time and you did nothing! Are you on their side? Do you want to be trapped down here?”

“Nope, I was just too tired to go all the way to Hotland,” Sans replies, grabbing another fry. This comment seems to push Undyne over the edge. With a quick movement, both Sans’s fries and burg are on the ground, and Undyne is holding Sans up in the air by his collar.

“You were too tired to tell Alphys about the last human?! The soul that will get us out of here! The fuel of everybody’s hopes and dreams! Too tired? Are you kidding me? Papyrus says that you didn’t even mention it to him! It’s almost like you’re hiding it!” Undyne shakes him vigorously. Sans just hangs there, trying to not glare at Undyne. “I swear, Sans, if I find that you are involved with the human’s disappearance, I won’t hesitate to put a spear through your creepy smiling face!”

She shakes him again, gnashing her teeth and digging her fingers deeper into the collar of his sweater. She looks like she’s struggling to find something to say, before she holds him close to her face. Sans can see the individual scales in detail as she says, “Do you got that, punk?

“Righto, Captain,” Sans says, his smile not faltering. Undyne gives out an irate huff and drops him on the ground.

“RG1, RG2, we’re outta here! Time to find the human!” she shouts, storming away. The two guards get up and follow her out of the bar. It’s silent as Undyne slams the door. It takes a few seconds, but the murmuring starts again, this time with more glares in Sans’s direction. Great. The attention that he didn’t want.

Sans casts a glance to the food on the ground. He doesn’t care much for the fries, Undyne having shaken out his hunger, but he needs the burger for the kid. It’s unsalvageable now. Grillby’s already moved to the front of the counter and is cleaning it up. Sans sighs and slides back up onto the stool.

“Sorry ‘bout that Grillbz,” he says, “When you got a moment, do you think you can get me another burg?”

The bartender nods, and disappears into the back with the tarnished food.

~ ~ ~

 

Sans waits a while before he leaves the bar. He hides the food for Frisk in his sweater as he walks home. When he opens the door, Papyrus is there on the couch, watching the MTT broadcast about Frisk. Sans tries not to groan. He can’t get away from the kid, no matter where he goes.

“If you see the human, please report it to the closest Royal Guard!” Mettaton says, in a tone that is more sensual than serious. Sans wonders why Papyrus likes the guy so much.

“Sans!” Papyrus says, turning on the couch to look at his brother,“Where were you?”

“I was just at Grillby’s,” he explains. Papyrus gives him a dissatisfied look, and then turns back to the television. It seems like he’s not one for talking right now. Maybe he’s too caught up in Mettaton’s ‘Top Five Ways to Successfully Capture a Human’ list.

Sans walks to his room. As soon as the door is shut behind him, he teleports to the workshop. Frisk is sitting there, curled up in a ball on the floor.

“Hey kid,” Sans says.

Frisk lifts their head weakly to look at Sans. They don’t stare for long, and their head soon thumps back onto the ground. Sans figures that it’s natural for them to be upset, so he doesn’t push much.

“I brought you some food,” he says gently, pulling out the burger.

Frisk moves at this, sitting up and taking the burger with one hand. Sans hands them the burger. They open up the cardboard box and take a huge bite of the burg. Pieces of cheese and onion fall out from the side their hand isn’t clutching.

“It’d be easier if you used both hands, kiddo,” Sans suggests.

Frisk’s eyes move over to Sans, and they then unfurl their hand. Sitting neatly in their palm is a monster soul. Sans tries to not have a noticable reaction as he stares it down. It must be the lady’s. There’s no other monster that he knows whose soul could be maintained outside of the body for this long of time. Frisk meets Sans’s eyes, and they then close their fingers over the soul, and continue to eat their burger with one hand.

“I didn’t think you’d come back,” they mumble through their food.

Sans holds Frisk’s hand. “Frisk, I made your mum a promise. I’ll take care of you no matter what. I’m not going to leave you, kid. I mean it.”

Frisk nods weakly.

“Don’t worry, kiddo, I won’t let them get you,” Sans says. He’s made another promise, and he doesn’t intend to break this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long wait! My illness got very bad for a and I couldn't write. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for reading and please comment!


	6. Chapter 5: Tears to Shed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans has a talk with Frisk about future plans.

The kid is quiet, filthy, and they hardly respond to anything that Sans says. They haven’t moved from their place in Sans’s workshop for days. They don’t even lift their head whenever Sans appears with food anymore, and they don’t eat in front of him. Sometimes, Sans comes back into the room and the ground is covered in pictures of the lady. Sometimes the pictures are of a kid that looks strikingly similar to Frisk, the only difference being their sweater. Sometimes, it’s just pictures of a bright yellow flower

Sans tries to talk to them. He asks them how they are doing, and he gets a blank stare. He asks them if they want to talk about anything, they pull the dirty comforter above their heads. Sans looks at them for a long time, wondering what he can do to get them out of this state, and then teleports away to one of his stations, pretending to work.

Undyne is still lurking around Snowdin, even though they’ve searched the woods up and down. Sans is sure there isn’t any place left that they haven’t searched in Snowdin except his workshop. The guards not usually in Snowdin have dispersed, looking in places like Waterfall and Hotland for the human. But Undyne is certain that the human is in Snowdin, despite what everybody tries to say.

Sans keeps out of it. He doesn’t want to seem more suspicious than he already is. She wasn’t a fan of him before, and she certainly isn’t a fan of him now.

Whenever he goes to Grillby’s to get food, she’s sitting there, jabbering on the phone to either Alphys or in person to some other royal guard. Tables have been broken, and splinters of them litter the floor. Grillby has said nothing to her about it, probably because he’s already negotiated a deal out with Asgore for them to get replaced. She glares at him for a moment, looks almost tempted to hall a salt shaker at him, and then continues with her speech.

Grillby gives Sans a look. Usually it’s one of sympathy, but sometimes he just shakes his head. Sans continues like nothing is wrong. If he’s good at anything, it’s pretending that everything is going to be okay.

He gets his usual burger from Grillby, and stuffs it in his pocket. He’d never do this usually, but at least now he has the excuse to say that he doesn’t want to eat in the presence of Undyne, because whenever he does, she comes over and dunks in on the ground. Sans is getting tired of having to order two burgers.

When he teleports back to Frisk, they’re colouring something. Sans is somewhat shocked to see them moving, having believed that they had dedicated their life to being a sea sponge. It’s a picture of the lady, but this time, there is a large red slash across her and a random sequence of numbers behind her. Some of them are backwards. When Frisk notices them, they crumple the drawing up and hide in under the comforter.

“Hey kiddo,” Sans says, “I brought you some food.”

He pulls out a burger. He’s only really been feeding them burgers and fries over the past couple days. He’s not sure that it constitutes as a healthy diet, but since the kid is hardly eating now, it’s better than nothing. Frisk turns away from Sans, not interested in the burger at all. He hears paper crinkling and a soft sob.

Sans sets the burger down on the ground and leans against the wall. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Frisk curls in on themselves, and says nothing.

“Frisk, please, I’m just trying to help you,” Sans says. He pats their hair gently. His hand comes back greasy. He wipes it on his shorts, “Papyrus is out of the house, buddy. Do you want to talk a shower?”

Frisk finally moves at this, and gives Sans a small nod.

“Okay, buddy, let’s do this,” Sans says. Frisk stands up, wobbles a bit on their weak legs, and then walks towards Sans. They wrap their arms around Sans. They’re thin, and it makes Sans uncomfortable. He’s been feeding them plenty, but Frisk is better at hiding scraps of food than Sans originally thought.

Sans teleports to the bathroom. He holds onto Frisk for a couple of seconds afterwards to make sure that they aren’t going to pass out. They seems uncomfortable with the prolonged physical affection, and they squirm out of his arms. Sans just gives them a small smile, before he goes to explain how the shower works.

“This way for hot,” Sans then points to the window and says, “That way for cold.”

The kid gives him a blank stare, obviously not understanding Sans’s joke, or perhaps they weren’t even listening to it.

“I’m going to grab some of my clothes for you,” Sans explains, “They might be a bit big, but they’ll be clean... ish.”

Frisk gives Sans a solid nod before they turn to take their sweater off. The kid’s back is covered in scars, and Sans doesn’t stay to see how many there are before he teleports away to his room. He tries not to think of what the kid had been through before going to the Underground as he tries to find some clothes that are clean.

Eventually, he finds a hoodie and a pair of shorts that would basically be pants on the kid. He thinks that they are clean. They don’t smell like ketchup, so they have to be. He’s just about to open the door to go out to the hall when he hears a panicked shriek.

Sans teleports immediately to the bathroom to find Frisk, covered in soap and soaking wet, ripping apart the bathroom as if they were looking for a bomb.

“Hey, hey, kiddo,” Sans says, stepping forward and holding their shoulders. “Calm down, it’s okay.”

“I- I can’t find her,” Frisk says, a frantic look in their eye, “She’s gone...”

“It’s okay, Frisk,” Sans says, and he picks up Frisk’s dirty sweater. Giving it a small shake, the soul falls down gently into Sans’s hands. He places it in Frisk’s outstretched hand, and gives them what Sans hopes is a reassuring smile. “She really means a lot to you, huh?”

Frisk looks at Sans briefly before they mumble, “No matter what I do... she still dies.”

Sans pretends to ignore them, and then says “Come on, kiddo, let’s get you cleaned up.”

* * *

Frisk is fiddling with the soul when Sans comes back in to give them some fries. They look up at Sans and make what might have been a smile at him, and they reach out to grab some of the fries.

“Okay, kiddo, we need to talk about what’s all going on,” Sans says, scratching the back of his skull. “As much as I like you here, you can’t stay forever.”

Frisk looks down at their hands, but says nothing. Sans continues to talk, “Since you already have a monster soul, you don’t need to fight Asgore to get through the barrier. You can just go home. The problem is getting there. Monsters are looking for you everywhere. They want your soul... I’m sure the lady told you.”

Frisk keeps their eyes away from Sans as they mumble something quietly, “I don’t wanna go home.”

Sans frowns at the kid, “Sorry, kiddo, I didn’t understand what you said.”

Frisk’s head shoots up, their eyes blazing as they make contact with Sans. Tears are budding in the corners of their eyes as they yell, “I DON’T WANT TO GO HOME!”

Sans tries to remain calm as the kid begins to sob. They hold the soul close and collapse onto themself, “I... I wanted to stay with her... I didn’t want this... I didn’t ask for this... I just... I just want her back! It’s not fair! She’s the first real mommy I ever had! Now she’s gone and it’s all my fault! I don’t want to go back home... they don’t want me back at home!”

Sans waits for Frisk’s rants to stop before they move in and pull the kid close to his chest. They unfurl, grasping at his shirt and pressing their face into his collar bone. They continue to sob as Sans strokes their hair gently.

“Okay, buddy... you don’t need to go home,” Sans says slowly, “But you need to get to the surface. There are many other people like her up there... they’ll take good care of you. You’ll find good people up there who love you.”

Frisk shakes their head weakly. “I don’t... I don’t want a new mommy. I want her back...”

“Kiddo, she’s still with you,” Sans says, gently reaching down and cupping Frisk’s tiny hands. “She’s looking out for you. She’d want you to go up to the surface. She loves you, Frisk, even now.”

“Okay.... I’ll go.” Frisk is trembling, trying to stop themself from crying more.

Sans reaches up to stroke their back, “It’s okay to cry, buddy. Just let it all out.”

Sans spends the rest of the evening cradling the kid until they fall asleep in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I was MIA for so long! I was struggling very much with my health! Thank you for being so patient, I really appreciate it.

**Author's Note:**

> I used to write a long time ago (couple of years??) and then my mental illness punched me into the ground. I'm kind of nervous about posting, this but I hope you enjoy it! Updates might be slow because of lack of motivation, but I do try. 
> 
> Follow gardenmages@tumblr.com for updates!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
